ST. LOUIS -- Winning two out of three on the road is usually something to feel good about.
The Nationals left Busch Stadium on Sunday feeling like they should have had more.
Washington was six outs away from completing a sweep when a late lead disappeared in a 5-3 loss to the Cardinals. Iván Herrera tied the game with a solo homer off Erik Tolman in the eighth before Leo Bernal hit a go-ahead two-run shot off Yovanny Cruz later in the inning.
“I thought we should have won all three games,” manager Blake Butera said. “You leave winning two, and you should feel good about it, but it doesn't feel very good because I feel like we should have won all three.”
That disappointment came with a larger takeaway.
With six games remaining in the season and the Nationals sitting at 73-83, their record tells one story. Inside the clubhouse, though, there remains a belief that a young roster is closer to putting everything together than that number might suggest.
“Heck no, dude,” Jake Irvin said when asked if Sunday’s disappointment outweighed the progress of the weekend. “There was a lot of fight in this team, and that's what you take out of it.”
There was plenty to support that optimism in St. Louis, particularly from Washington’s rotation. Cade Cavalli, Andrew Alvarez and Irvin each put the Nationals in position to win, combining to allow two runs across 16 1/3 innings.
Irvin provided the final piece Sunday, striking out eight while allowing two runs across 5 1/3 innings.
Brady House and CJ Abrams briefly put the Nationals in position for a win when House singled and Abrams followed with a two-run homer in the sixth to give Washington a 3-2 lead.
The bullpen couldn’t make it stand.
Tolman attacked Herrera with a 97.8 mph fastball in the eighth, and Herrera turned it around to tie the game. After Tolman walked Jordan Walker with two outs, Cruz entered and surrendered Bernal’s go-ahead homer.
Butera would have preferred avoiding the walk. He wasn’t going to fault his young relievers for getting beat while attacking.
“At the end of the day, I'd rather go down throwing strikes and throwing our best stuff than walking guys,” Butera said.
Tolman viewed it similarly. He has experienced both ends of high-leverage situations during his time in the Majors, and Sunday offered another lesson.
“It's not the first time I failed,” Tolman said. “You just got to put your big boy pants on and move forward.”
Those lessons are part of what Washington is trying to collect before turning its attention toward 2027. Young pitchers are working through leverage innings. Young hitters are learning how to finish games. And after a difficult second half, the Nationals have played competitive baseball recently, with Tolman pointing to the momentum the group has built over the past week.
Irvin sees something deeper than individual results.
“We got so many guys here that are just so talented, really young, really hungry,” Irvin said. “The goal in here is just to continue to get better, continue to grow, continue to build a culture. I think we've done a really good job of that, and it's a huge step forward for this organization.”
The Nationals didn't finish the sweep Sunday.
The fact that winning two of three didn't feel like enough might say something about what they believe they're building.